Busking with Bill

Hello Dance Lovers!

I was late to Nazareth’s second edition of Dancing on the Grass…a free event in which members from the local community present their art on the beautiful lawns of the Nazareth Campus…with good reason, of course!

I attended Bill Wade/Inlet Dance Theater‘s master class “Busking”. Wade and his dancers spanned a multitude of topics in this charismatic and practical workshop. Wade spoke of the brass tacks involving his philosophy of connecting art creation with funding. His approach is honest and lucrative-in spirit and/or monetarily. Inlet proposes that dance does not have to happen primarily in the theater, commercial events, education classes, church performances-dance can go anywhere.

On the topic of commercial and corporate events, it seems his simple ethic is: do not lie. He makes work from his gut and his collaborations with his dancers and students. He then will tailor it to the “perceived need of the client”. If his company doesn’t fit the need, Inlet will pass the torch to someone who does. This is good client/public relations-a topic taught in college business programs that clearly has relevant application for anyone running a dance company today.

Wade stressed that he does not create pieces for commercial events, rather he creates work and then applies and contours that work to the event proposed. If the job fits, and the piece still retains a link to it’s original core, then Inlet accepts the job and exposes dance outside the concert setting. The premise is simple: our artistic audiences are shrinking, so lets bring the art to where the people are-commercial events, education events, wherever the people go, so goes dance.

I realize that this might sound like ‘selling out’, or just plain back-flipping for a buck-but I respect that Inlet creates work for the company first(or work for their summer student intensives) and THEN thinks of how that piece might be available to the clients proposal. I think it’s an open mindset that has earned the company rare financial independence and even more rare: growing audiences.

I could see the problem trying to apply it to all dance companies…some choreographers just don’t make very accessible work. Inlet Dance Theater is quite joyful to watch; they use bright costumes, embody characters within their dances, and address topical issues within our society and culture.  This is not to say they are not artistic. They very much are a powerhouse collective of creativity and artistry; their dancers well trained and their business model well crafted. The work that they do, however imaginative and playful, is accessible. You walk away feeling that you have seen a show, that you have witnessed something fun and interesting. However, from their concert this Saturday past, I did not feel like I didn’t ‘get’ anything. They are highly enjoyable and understandable.

I think it is wonderful for art to be accessible to all audiences, but I also see much validity in the inverse. High risk, high concept dance that can be just as brilliant or just as pretentious as any high art can be.

An art maker/choreographer must know themselves well, or at least be curious enough to try new things to find what works for them. Sometimes those experiments become embedded as part of your identity or at least as part of your artistic expressions. Wade is as honest as he proposes himself in his talks and does not pretend to engage in projects that do not feed the soul of the company, and hence has found what works for them.

Inlet is a wonderful model of a dance company that has faced the economic and artistic culture Americans live in today, and has carved our their own answer. Not only are they an honest company, but they are willing to share their insights with other performers, educators, and dancers.

Somehow, I see a new opportunity generating for Inlet Dance Theater: How to survive and fix your company without selling your soul-the workshop.

Or, you know, Busking Workshop is a great title.